Mystery Novels
by quitfm
Summary: It took him four months to talk to me. Five months to laugh at my jokes. Seven months to trust me. Nine months to be considered one of my closest friends. How long will it take for him to love me like I've fallen for him?
1. Chapter 1

You know, I've never lived with strangers before. Just been my dad, my brother, and I for years. My mom, Nadeshiko, died when I was younger. Dad doesn't really talk about her but from what I can tell from the few pictures he's awkwardly shown me, she was younger than he was but she was the most beautiful lady I had ever seen. Sometimes, I wish I took after her rather than my dad. Not that he isn't a handsome man or anything, it's just that I would much rather prefer to be as beautiful as the woman who made me.

We've never really invited relatives over to visit either. My mother's side of family absolutely detests my father and has somehow come to the conclusion that he is the reason she died. That's fine, we don't particularly have a need to see them either. Our days were mostly lived in a content peacefulness that we never dared to interrupt. There was no real reason too.

That is, until that one day Touya brought home a new friend. He always brought home friends. His best friend, Yukito, who has been the desire of my affections since I was twelve, would spend the night and have dinner with us and play video games with me. But this one, this new friend, I'd never seen him before.

" 'Kura, get the first aid, a bucket of water, and a cloth. Hurry up!"

I hopped from my seat on the sofa, abandoning the new suspenseful drama on the television, my eyes widening at the scene they laid upon. Touya was dripping, soaked enough that even his suit jacket clung to his chest. Blood.

I couldn't react fast enough, my brain couldn't process what the hell was happening. "Wha—Touya. What's going on? Who is that?" I fired question after question at him but he would not answer. He swore loudly. My eyes slowly shifted from Touya to the man he was holding up by the arm. His face was covered by his slightly unruly chestnut locks but I could tell he was in pain by the way he was shaking. I didn't have much time to process what was happening, jumping slightly from my examination when I heard a, "Fuck, he's still bleeding profusely. Where the hell is that towel?"

I hurriedly did as I was told, tripping over everything I could as if I couldn't move fast enough. It was a little much to have to suddenly take in. There was a boy in the living room bleeding all over the place, that much I was certain.

I came back, the towel and first aid in one hand and a bucket of water in the other. I had to dig deep in the hallway closet for that stupid bucket. Touya laid the boy out over the couch, his blood soaking deeply into the couch. We would have to probably buy a new one when this was over. I got on my knees, kneeling near the edge. His eyes were closed but his breathing was so erratic that you knew he was not asleep nor passed out. "What happened to you." I mumbled as I dipped the towel in the water. His eyes opened to reveal a beautiful shade of amber, hidden beneath thick eyelashes and dried blood. He didn't say anything and that was okay. I figure bleeding to death would make up for the lack of conversation. I swallowed nervously as I dabbed at his face. He had so many cuts on his face that I expected him to flinch at the slightest touch or even grunt.

He didn't. He was silent and he made no move to stop me. He didn't even show he was in pain in any way from my actions. If he wasn't breathing, I would think he was a lifeless doll. I moved the towel from his face and submerged it back into the bucket. The water turned a deluded tomato red. After a moment, I finally spoke up, "Are you okay?" Oddly enough, his face moved. His eyebrows furrowed as if he had never heard such a ridiculous question in his life. I coughed, my cheeks reddening a considerable amount. That was kind of a stupid question.

"I mean, I know you're not alright. I can see that. There's blood everywhere and—and Touya was swearing pretty loudly earlier. So you see, I know that you're probably not alright but I wasn't exactly sure what to say in this situation—"

"Monster, what are you doing?"

I jumped at Touya's voice and immediately stood to my feet. "I was … just making conversation." I licked my lips as I tried not to show how embarrassed I was. Touya's eyebrow rose slightly. "Leave him alone, let him rest. He doesn't need you babbling on about unimportant things."

My nose twitched. "Unimportant things? I didn't even get a chance to—"

"Get me a new bucket of water. Now, Sakura." He kneeled and started to unbutton the boys shirt. "Also, get me one of dad's old shirts."

After I gave Touya everything he asked for in hopes that he would let me directly help the boy, he banished me to my room. "I-I want to help too—" I tried to comment but he swooped me in his arms before I could say another word and next thing I know, I'm in my room with the door locked hearing Touya say from the other side, "Move from that room without permission, I'll publish your diary at school."

That emitted a small 'eep' from me. He reads my diary? Note to self, move diary from its supposed hiding place. I puffed my cheeks in annoyance and fell on my bed in agonizing curiosity. I _hated _sitting alone. It made me think too much and I hated that feeling.

I had no choice though. Touya never, ever went back on his word and I wasn't about to risk my personal thoughts being slandered across campus. I just couldn't.

"What if I have to use the bathroom?" I yelled, my voice echoed off the walls. I received no answer. I sighed loudly, grabbing my pillow and pushing it against my face as if that would block out my desire to move or do something.

* * *

I stared. I stared and stared. I could see him squirm under my gaze but I couldn't help it. He was so .. beautiful. I mean, if a man could be beautiful. It wasn't that he wasn't handsome. He was more than that. I couldn't think of a word so I'm choosing beautiful. The man who was once covered in blood last night was sitting across from me. He showered and groomed and looked completely different from that boy on the couch.

His chestnut hair was shaggy and brushed against his neck, his bangs fanned over his eyes so I could only see glimpses of those beautiful orbs that I could only have gotten a taste of last night. Such a pretty color, I've never seen that hue on a person before. That was enough for him to catch my interest but he had other features that drew me in … like his skin. He was pale, pure white—not like paper but more refined like porcelain.

My eyes lowered, against my better judgment, to his chest. It was obvious the boy worked out from the way his muscles filled out my father's shirt. I don't think he fit the shirt. We would have to go shopping later.

It was amazing how lightly treated he was. With all the blood I saw, I would have thought he would be wrapped up in cloth until you couldn't see his skin. Just the opposite, actually. His entire right arm was bandaged firmly with gauze and there was a cotton patch taped just above his left eyebrow. That's it. He ate his pancakes in silence, not bothering to look up I guess. If my heart wasn't already occupied from when Yukito would come around and notice his feelings for me, I could love this man.

"Oops." Before I could even process why Touya mumbled that, he stepped on my toe. A daily routine for him. What's my routine? Get angry.

"OW! What was that fo—"

"Please, wipe the drool from your mouth. I don't want to get spat on."

My first reaction was my fingers heading for the corners of my mouth. Was I really drooling or was he just messing with me for staring too hard? Touya rolled his eyes and walked through the kitchen to the coffee maker. "Oi, kid. Want some coffee?" He yelled, glancing over his shoulder. The boy nodded quickly, his mouth apparently full with the pancakes father made.

As for me, I sat down rubbing at my toe. I let my eyes slide across the table at him again. He was very .. stoic. I don't know, he just seemed really to himself. He was really tearing into those pancakes, too. I'll admit, my father was a culinary genius and everything but were they really that good? My head tilted slightly. Touya noticed this and whispered, "That's his fourth plate." I glanced at my abandoned pancakes; I had yet to even finish my first plate.

Was he homeless?

Now, I don't go blabbing the first thing that comes to mind but when I'm really interested, I can't help it. It's like I'm a dam and it just breaks, letting the water run loose and wild and free. I couldn't help but break the scraping fork filled silence. "What's your name?" I asked, plopping my elbows on the table. He lifted his head to meet my eyes, pausing his attack on his plate.

I pursed my lips, it was all I could do not to hitch a breath. I waited. No answer, he just stared. Okay, maybe he didn't speak Japanese? He did have that Chinese slant that we don't. Or was he Korean?

"Um.. your name?" I tried again after a few moments of silence. He continued to stare as if I hadn't spoken. Maybe he was nervous. I smiled at him. "Well, my name is Sakura!"

He nodded slowly, acknowledging that he heard me. So he's mute? I gave up for the moment, rubbing my chin in thought. "Do you talk?" I blurted. His face scrunched up. Okay, maybe that was rude. Before I could mumble an apology though, Touya sat a cup of coffee on the table and nudged it toward the boy.

He graciously took the cup, his staring at me having come to an end. Good. He was watching me so intently it was as if he were staring right through me. Touya sat beside me, sighing deeply.

"What do we do now?" I asked. I knew that was what he was thinking. It was written all over his face. Touya ran a hand through his hair. "No idea." Then, as if snapping out of his reverie, he nudged me so hard that I almost slid out of my seat.

"What the hell are you doi—"

"Shouldn't you be heading to school? Get going. Tomoyo is probably waiting for you." He stood up, fixing his tie. It was then that I noticed he had a suit on. "Work?" I laughed lowly. If you asked Touya what he did for a living, it would be hard to pinpoint. Basically, he did whatever he wanted. Whatever job was available, Touya was there to do it. He didn't even discriminate. He did it all. Sort of like a handy man. It helped that he was ridiculously reliable and got a lot of references. If he ever decided to settle down on a career, he would most likely get the job hands down.

He nodded. "So hurry up and get going."

"What about him?" My eyes flickered to the boy who was getting up and placing his plate in the sink.

"I'll be here until father gets back from his business trip," Touya rubbed his chin. "Father'll know what to do. Until then, I'll try to get information out of him."

Information? I frowned. "I don't think interrogating him will do you any good. I asked nicely and he won't even tell me his name."

"Maybe he thinks you're annoying, you know, like me."

"Shut up!"

I got up and tried to stomp on his foot but missed and ended up almost tripping. He smiled in triumph. I shook a fist at him. "One of these days, I'm going to get you." I puffed my cheeks and grabbed my backpack off of the counter. I glanced back at the chestnut haired boy who made it his own silent law to keep shut up tighter than a maximum security vault.

He looked at me abruptly, making me jump. I gave him a smile and a wave. "Good luck." I mouthed to him. He would surely need it. Especially with Touya on his tail.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry for the wait. Life happens sometimes.

* * *

"Bleeding?"

I nodded, my chopstick pressing at a stray piece of rice that was hanging around the corner of my bento box. I tried to keep it to myself, what had happened last with the bleeding boy and all that but as soon as lunch came and I dragged her to our usual spot on the roof to eat, I had to tell Tomoyo – it wasn't like I could hide this from my best friend and as soon as I told her, I felt like I could really breath.

"Oh dear," Tomoyo gave a small laugh as she neatly placed her bento on the ground. Her voice was light and soft. In all honesty, I think she was a princess in her past life. Everything about her was perfect. Her dark eyes, her long midnight black hair that was always in some complicated hairstyle, her pretty face. I'm talking, I would go lesbian for her. I'm not even kidding. Okay, I'm exaggerating just a tad.

"Don't tell anyone. Please. Touya would kill me." I bit my lip until I saw her smile that smile that seemed to always reassure me. She nodded, "Of course not but it is something of concern. I'm guessing you haven't called the police."

"I hadn't thought about it." I shook my head. Alerting the authorities, it was odd that that hadn't been the first thing to cross my mind when the incident was occurring. "I wonder why Touya hadn't called the police." Why hadn't he? And where on Earth had _he_ been where he had come across a bleeding boy on the street? He never explained what happened. All the questions were making my head hurt, clearly I wasn't used to exercising brain activity, so I focused on questions that could _actually_ be answered. "How're you and Eriol?"

Eriol was Tomoyo's boyfriend. He had been an exchange student from England but he ended up having to head back to where he was from for some reason or another. Tomyo wouldn't reveal it but I know she knew why. I never asked but we both were acutely aware that I was curious about it; Tomoyo was like a finely tuned safe, she would never tell a secret. It was okay though, that's how I knew she could keep mine.

"He's doing great," A warm smile spread across her lips as she lightly held her chopsticks to her lips in thought. "He's coming in next week so hopefully we can see each other, I won't get my hopes up. I know he's busy."

I watched her expression. What it must be like to be in love with someone who liked you back, I wondered about that all the time. Going on romantic walks in the park or just hanging out; I've always had a romanticized notion about love but I couldn't help myself when I had no experience in it. After all, I've only been pining after the same guy since I was nine. But Yukito was different, he was perfect for me.

Yukito was my brother's best friend-did I already mention that? He was sweet and kind, he was always thinking about other people. I loved him with all of my heart but he refused to admit it aloud. Tomoyo was too nice to say anything but it was clear that she didn't see our relationship going anywhere; the one time she had been honest about how she felt on the situation, I had nearly burst into tears at the thought of Yukito not having feelings for me like I did for him. She never spoke of it again. I think about that moment now and then but I try not to.

Enough about me, I was just happy that Eriol made Tomoyo happy. "I hope you guys can see each other then." I grinned over at her before pointing my chopsticks in her direction. "If you see him, you tell him that he still owes me a tamago for not telling me that he liked you in the first place."

Tomoyo just shook her head at me with a defeated grin. "I'll relay the message."

* * *

Unlocking the front door, I immediately shed myself of my shoes and dropped my backpack by the entrance. "Touyaaaaa! I'm home." I didn't really expect him to be home, he never was since he always had work until at least six, maybe seven at night. I always made dinner since dad had work even later than Touya. It was really quiet for me sometimes but I was never lonely.

Hearing no response, I scrambled to my room and moved to shift out of my school uniform and into something more comfortable-I was in dire need of sweatpants and some comfort food. And after scrounging through my closet for the laziest attire that I could get my hands on, I decided to head downstairs.

I stopped short at the doorway to the kitchen upon seeing him there. It was the guy from last night. He was sitting in the same spot that he was in since the last time I saw him this morning; only this time, he wasn't stuffing his mouth with pancakes but he was staring out the window that sat just across the kitchen. He seemed deep in thought, I don't even think he knew that I was there. Hadn't he heard me come in? My voice was pretty loud when I wanted it to be heard. Maybe he really was a lifeless doll.

He looked nice in that light though, it really brought out his ... well, everything? His hair was shiny and unruly but in a tame sort of way, as if he had attempted to comb it down but it refused to bend to another will. And his eyes-

-were staring right at me, holy shit.

"Uhm, uh. Hey there. Hey."

No response but what was I expecting? Then again, it was hard to understand the flustered ramblings of a teenage girl.

"Do you like jokes?" Again, no response.

Maybe I should try a different approach. I had been wanting to try something out with him. I skipped toward his seat until I stood right by his chair before crouching down on my knees before him. I blinked a few times, then proceeded to stare at him.

He was fine at first. He just stared at me and for a while, it was just my green eyes verses his brown ones. After a few silent moments, I was starting to wonder if he would ever grow uncomfortable.

But then I saw it.

It was a tiny amount but there were slight differences in his stonewall stare. His eyes shifted slightly, I think he was looking at my nose. Then they lifted. My forehead? Then, back to my eyes. His pupils started to grow bigger, dilating as I stared back at him.

But the cutest part was when the slight reddish hue rose to his cheeks. It brought a grin to my lips. "Not very comfortable, is it, huh?" I questioned as I pulled away from our staring contest. "You know, uhm-" I paused, realizing that I still didn't know his name, "You should really put yourself in my shoes. All the staring does get a little embarrassing."

I watched him as his head lowered in thought and I quickly backtracked, "I mean, I personally don't think it's a big deal. Stare away but if I have something hanging out of my nose, don't just not say anything, you know?" An awkward, strangled laugh fell from my lips. As for him, no laugh, no response. I really had to stop digging holes once I am already neck deep.

I still had to make dinner. I shuffled past his spot at the table and to the refrigerator, digging through it for ingredients. Spaghetti is what we were having because I had been craving something not-Japanese for the longest time and Touya finally went shopping a week ago. I pulled everything into my arms and spread them out over the counter.

"I at least hope you're hungry." I told him, pulling the meat from its package and placing it within a pot on the stove. "Do you like spaghetti-" I turned only to find him already out of his seat and standing beside me, nearly giving me a heart attack. I placed a hand over my heart. "Christ! When did you-ah-you-" I took a deep breath. "We should really get a bell on you or-or something."

He glanced at the meat and then glanced at me. "Do you want to help me, then?" He gave me a reluctant nod but it brought the biggest smile to my lips. We were getting somewhere! Sort of. I rummaged through the drawers to find him something to cut up the meat with and handed it to him. "Just cut up the meat and then, I'll tell you what to do after that." I was feeling giddy. "Touya and Dad like their spaghetti a certain way and only I know how to do it." I nodded with a smug hint to my tone as I leaned over to nudge him in the ribs. I expected to feel, I don't know, skin? It felt like paper under there.

I blinked when he winced. "Oh." was all I could manage. Maybe he was more heavily bandaged than from what I could see. He sure didn't act like it. Talk about a guy who knows how to suck it up. Briefly, however, I wondered yet again what had happened to him. Who would harm such a, as far as I knew, harmless guy?

"I smell dinner, oi Sakura. Don't forget to put the onions in mine this ti-"

I turned to see him stopped short in the doorway of the kitchen. He seemed a little surprised to see me. Or was he looking at Mr. Silent next to me? Mr. Silent, and yes this is what I've decided to call him until I've figured out his name, didn't seem to be paying much attention to Touya's presence, though I'm sure he knew that he was there. He just continued to nonchalantly cut up the meat. I couldn't really tell from the look on his face. He looked between us cautiously before shrugging and uttering the rest of his sentence, "-Like I was saying, don't forget the onions, kid." He then proceeded to shed himself of his jacket, loosen his tie, and head upstairs.

What was his problem? "I'M NOT A KID, YOU BIG BUTTFACE."

"Whaaaaatever."

"YOU CAN FORGET THE ONIONS."

I think the best part of my day had to be what followed. From behind me, I could hear a small chuckle. Okay, it wasn't exactly a chuckle. More like, a heavily amused breath. And it came from Mr. Silent.

He laughed.

He had a pretty laugh.


End file.
